Featured Advice

Careers rarely develop the way we plan them. Our career path often takes many twists and turns, with particular events, choices and people influencing our direction.

We asked Shane Bergin from Smart Futures to give some advice for people considering this job:

Science research and lecturing needs people who are curious, creative, stubborn (they like problems that take ages to solve). You need to like communication – you’ll be teaching, writing, debating and discussing science all day, everyday. If you like to be challenged intellectually, are creative about ways to solve problems, like working with teams people from the four corners of the world, then science is for you. It’s more David Attenborough than Sheldon Cooper.

Featured Content

Self Assessment

What are your interests?

Creative?

Creative people are drawn to careers and activities that enable them to take responsibility for the design, layout or sensory impact of something (visual, auditory etc). They may be atrracted to the traditional artistic pursuits such as painting, sculpture, singing, or music. Or they may show more interest in design activities, such as architecture, animation, or craft areas, such as pottery and ceramics.

Creative people use their personal understanding of people and the world they live in to guide their work. Creative people like to work in unstructured workplaces, enjoy taking risks and prefer a minimum of routine.

Up-Skilling Courses

A number of government upskilling programmes have been developed which aim to encourage individuals to continue their learning and increase their skills level. Many of these programmes include financial supports.

If you are unemployed, or want to further your education, there is likely to be a support programme that will help you financially, while doing a course you may be interested in.

Most upskilling courses are designed to assist unemployed people to improve their skills and increase their chances of getting employment. Detailed information on current Employment Programmes can be found in our Job Seekers area.

From May 2018 Springboard+ offers 8,088 free places on 245 courses leading to awards at certificate, degree and post-graduate level. The majority of courses are part-time for a maximum of 12 months and are open to all eligible applicants regardless of their employment status.

The following are eligible to apply for courses in 2018/19 academic year (subject to the applicant meeting all requirements, e.g. academic requirements):

Retuners (Formerly known as Homemakers)

May apply to all courses if they meet the nationality/visa requirement and residency criteria.

Peoplein employment

May apply to all courses if they meet the nationality/visa requirement and residency criteria.

Please note that a 10% course fee contribution for Level 7, 8, and 9 courses is applicable for employed participants. This is payable directly to the provider.

Theunemployedorformerly self-employed

all courses are open to these category of applicants, with the exception of the two year part-time ICT conversion courses which are not open to those in receipt of a Jobseekers-related payment

MOOCs - Massive Online Open Courses

MOOCs are free courses that are available to anyone. They don't give you a recognised qualification, but they do provide an excellent opportunity to expand your knowledge of a subject, or if you simply want to upskill. Some MOOCs are designed by the top universities around the world. Here in Ireland, MOOCs are offered by Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), NUI Galway and Trinity College Dublin. All you need to participate is internet access. A searchable database of MOOCs is available here.

Need advice on what to do?

With so many possible courses, and a variety of different financial supports available, many people choose to discuss their options with a local careers advisor. Government based services provide free consultations and are available nationwide.